Release Blitz + Excerpt + Review: "Tempted by Love" by Melissa Foster

Today, I am very happy to participate in the release blitz promoting Melissa Foster's latest novel, "Tempted by Love," book #1 of the Steeles at Silver Island series. This book is related to a number of Foster's previous series as part of her Love in Bloom world. It does read as a standalone, but there are quite a few secondary characters from earlier stories to keep track of in this one. As a new reader of Foster's work, I found that aspect to be a bit of a challenge at times. There is a family tree included at the front of the book (with a larger PDF version posted on Foster's website), but even so, I suspect there are some parts of this story that longtime fans of Foster's work will appreciate more than I did.

That said, I adored this sweet, emotional story with its endearing, well-developed characters and compelling plot. Main characters Jock and Daphne had both suffered a great in their past relationships and deserved to find some happiness, so I found it very easy to cheer them on to their HEA. While Jock's history was tragic and I certainly empathized with his losses, I found it incredibly easy to relate to the body image issues Daphne expressed as a result of her ex-husband's verbal abuse. It was wonderful to see her overcome those and start to see herself as beautiful through Jock's eyes. Jock's relationship with Daphne's young daughter, Hadley, was another highlight of the story. Hadley was a true scene-stealer and reminded me of several toddlers I know in real life because of her insistence on doing things herself. I chuckled every time she said "I do it!" and smiled every time she called Jock "my Dock."

Daphne and Jock's romance was obviously central to the story, but Jock's efforts to reconcile with his twin brother, Archer, and find his way back to his family were also a major source of conflict. Jock had stayed away from his childhood home of Silver Island in the years since the accident in which he lost his girlfriend and newborn son so that the rest of his family wouldn't be forced to take sides between him and Archer. His relationship with Daphne and Hadley helped him finally come to terms with that trauma and realize how much he missed having his family in his life, and that it was time to confront Archer and the secrets keeping them apart.

Overall, "Tempted by Love" was an incredibly moving story, and I highly recommend it for all fans of emotional contemporary romance. I look forward to reading more about Jock's siblings in future books.

*Review copy provided by the author. All opinions expressed are my own.

About "Tempted by Love"

Enjoy heart-meltingly beautiful and toe-curlingly sexy romance in TEMPTED BY LOVE, an emotionally riveting story about a man who has lost it all and carries a torturous secret, a divorced single mother who has everything to lose, and the little girl who helps them heal. Fall in love on the sandy shores of Silver Island, home to coffee shops, boat races, midnight rendezvous, and the sexy, sharp-witted Steeles. They have a penchant for pranks, a passion for loyalty, and a trunk full of secrets.

In TEMPTED BY LOVE…
Years ago, bestselling author Jack “Jock” Steele lost his girlfriend and baby in a horrific accident that drove a wedge between Jock and his family, keeping him from sharing a devastating secret. An aging philanthropist saved him from the brink of despair, and for a decade Jock cared for his ailing friend who became his family. Now his friend has passed away and left him a fortune—on the condition that he publishes another book. Jock is floundering, unsure how to rebuild the life he’d walked away from, much less find his muse, have another relationship with a woman, or even think about having a family of his own. But he can’t get his sweet, sexy new friend, single-mother Daphne Zablonski out of his head, and her adorable toddler must know something he doesn’t, because she wraps her tiny fingers around his heart and won’t let go.

Daphne has been through the wringer with her ex-husband and doesn’t believe true love is in the cards for her. Friends she can handle, but letting a man see her mom bod naked? Especially someone as strikingly handsome and unbelievably sexy as Jock? No, thank you. Besides, she has a toddler to chase after and enough fictional boyfriends to fill her lonely nights. If only her book boyfriends could make her body tingle the way one look from her mysterious neighbor does.

As Jock and Daphne’s friendship turns to something too tempting to deny, their lives take an unexpected turn. Can a man who has lost everything find redemption with a woman who has everything to lose? And then there’s that secret…

 

Check out an excerpt from TEMPTED BY LOVE here!